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UK set for Brexit, as PM promises 'new dawn'
The UK [officially left] the European Union at 23:00 GMT, ending 47 years of membership.
[...] Pro and anti-Brexit demonstrations and marches are being held across the country, as the UK flag is taken down from EU institutions in Brussels.
Little will change immediately, as the UK begins a "transition period".
Most EU laws will continue to be in force - including the free movement of people - until the end of December, by which time the UK aims to have reached a permanent free trade agreement with the EU.
[...] The prime minister held a cabinet meeting at the National Glass Centre, a museum and arts centre in Sunderland, the city that was the first to back Brexit when results were announced after the referendum.
The meeting was held amid tight security.
[...] Mr Johnson told the Cabinet it was time to start a "new chapter in the United Kingdom's story" and end the division of the past three and a half years, according to a Downing Street spokesman.
The Cabinet discussed future trade deals, including seeking a a Canada-style free trade agreement with the EU, and Mr Johnson thanked Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay for the work of his department, which is being wound up.
The PM told ministers the government aimed to have 80% of the UK's trade with other nations covered by free trade agreements within three years.
[...] "This is the moment when the dawn breaks and the curtain goes up on a new act. It is a moment of real national renewal and change."
[...] A new commemorative 50p coin will also come into circulation to mark the UK's withdrawal.
(Score: 3, Disagree) by rleigh on Saturday February 01 2020, @12:00PM (2 children)
The major difference is that the citizens of New York state have elected representatives at federal level, directly accountable to them at the ballot box. The European Commission and Courts of Justice have zero direct democratic accountability. We can't remove them. We can't influence them. They have the ultimate power and are unaccountable to the citizens of the countries which appointed them.
The individual states making up the USA have given up some sovereign rights in forming the Union, in exchange for certain things being done at a federal level. Like defence and foreign policy. But the USA has checks and balances in place to have democratic accountability at the state and federal level, and in courts of law. The EU does not have, and has never had, anything similar. It's modelled upon the Soviet politbureau, not exactly a bastion of democracy. It's been clear for years that the Common Law UK was fundamentally incompatible with Civil Law European states. Brexit was the only sane outcome to correct matters. The alternative was to have our freedoms trampled upon.
I voted to leave the EU. It's the only democratic vote I've cast in my life which has had real meaning. It's one of those decisions which will change the course of history for our nations and the world. For better or worse? We'll see. Ultimately, this comes down to sovereignty and accountability. Today, for the first time in 47 years, our elected politicians are directly accountable to us for their actions. Their successes and failures are our successes and failures. The EU isn't there as a safety blanket or a scapegoat. The buck stops with them. Now that they again have full control over the running of our affairs, we can hope that the political lightweights are replaced by more serious and mature politicians who will run things effectively.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 01 2020, @12:43PM (1 child)
That's a bad argument. Following your "directly accountable" argument, the POTUS doesn't match the model you're arguing for either -- or we wouldn't have those discussions about the electoral vote every four years. And neither does the US directly elect federal judges or the Supreme Court, so in the US too, citizens do not have direct control over the institutions that have the ultimate power. You also conveniently left out the European Parliament, which is directly elected, just like the US senate.
That's astonishing. Your model of "accountability at the state and federal level" in the US is mirrored in the EU by national governments and parliaments. Are you really under the impression that the member states of the EU are dictatorships?
Ah, you wear rose-colored glasses. Are you sure you haven't deluded yourself in a no-true-scotsman fashion into believing that only the UK and US represent functional democracies, and everything else is crap?
No surprise there. If you cannot see the difference between different democratic structures and authoritarian rule, that explains both your attitude towards the EU and the state of the UK in ten years.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 02 2020, @11:04PM
While it's true that Americans don't directly elect the president, the president is still accountable to the citizens. This is not the case for the EU president and the EU commissioner. Member states are mandated to follow the laws passed by the EU and they have no recourse getting legislation modified or repealed. In America, there are ways for citizens to get US federal laws to be changed and even amend the US constitution. The checks and balances available in the US aren't quite mirrored in the EU.